This invention relates to improved comfort and relaxation during medical examination procedures, particularly mammography procedures, by providing relief from related cold stress induced by contact with cold surfaces of medical apparatuses. Patients regularly complain about tension and discomfort resulting from cold X-ray machine surfaces (such as the bucky cover), where, e.g., in a mammogram, these surfaces make contact with exposed breast tissue and surrounding skin. The purpose of this invention is to provide relief from the tension/discomfort that results from cold machine surfaces against exposed skin, such as during mammography.
Having a mammogram is considered by many women and men, to be a stressful and painful experience due to the following factors: a) the ever-present threat of receiving an atypical or breast cancer test result/diagnosis; b) the intense pressure/discomfort/tension described by the majority of patients caused by the required squeezing action of the mammography X-ray machine surfaces compressing the breast tissue; c) the discomfort/tension resulting from cold room temperature machine surfaces (approx. 68-70° F.) contacting their exposed skin (approx. 98° F.), which is a difference of approx. 28-30° F.; and d) the cumulative discomfort/stress experienced by many patients who are required to receive multiple/additional mammogram views needed due to “poor tissue visibility” on initial tests or perhaps needed due to multiple same day mammograms required as part of further diagnostic procedures required to rule out cancer or to prepare for surgical procedures.
A typical mammography machine 100 will have (FIG. 4A) an imaging source and an imaging detector, otherwise referred to as a “grid” (not shown) that lies below a covering called the bucky 110. The bucky 110 is a plate of material that is transparent to the wavelength of the imaging source, such as carbon/graphite. The bucky 110 has a top surface 112 that contacts skin on the bottom of the breasts, and a front surface 114 that contacts skin on the chest. A paddle 110′ is used to flatten and compress the breasts so that the imaging system can produce the most beneficial image. The paddle 110′ comprises a lower surface 112′ that contacts skin on the top of the breasts and a front surface 114′ that may or may not contact the patient's skin.